Predictors of response to electroconvulsive therapy in major depressive disorder.

In recent years, electroconvulsive therapy (ECU has increasingly been reserved for moderate to severe depressions that have often been resistant to drug therapy or have had favorable response to ECT in the past. This selection process may modify the usefulness of clinical “predictors” of treatment outcome (Hobson 1953; Roberts 1959; Hamilton and White 1960; Ottosson 1962; Hordem et al. 1963; Nystrom 1964; Carney et al. 1965; Mendels 1965; Penis 1966; Camey and Sheffield 1972), which were identified when ECT was used more liberally. Indeed, several subsequent studies have failed to identify any predictors of response to ECT (Abrams et al. 1973; Abrams 1982; Katona and Aldridge 1984), suggesting that selection of patients on the basis of a valid categorical diagnosis of depression abolishes the predictive value of individual clinical features. response to treatment. The present study was undertaken to address this question.